414 Eisner, 20901
9604 Avenel, 20903
9517 Woodstock, 20910
5000 Druid Drive, 20895
The first open house we saw today was 414 Eisner Street, 20901. This was a split level with three bedrooms and two baths. The neighborhood seemed a lot nicer than I thought it would be just from looking on the map.
This house has a terraced, multi-level deck in the back. There is also a grassy area where kids or dogs could play. The kitchen was pretty decent, with Silestone counters, though my husband thought it was too small and noted the lack of a hood over the range. I’m a huge fan of Silestone.
The bedrooms seemed a bit small, in fact the third bedroom seems to be more of a nursery or an office size. Overall this house gives a very nice impression. We liked it, but thought the 399 pricetag was too steep for us. It’s more than I would be willing to invest in that area. When I complain about prices, there are two levels of complaint. One is that overall prices are too high. The other level is when I feel a house is mispriced for today’s market. Some of the houses I saw today had prices that I would not be willing to pay, but I recognize that someone will probably pay that price and the house will sell. In the case of this house I feel that 399 is not only too high compared to historical values, but also that they will not be getting the 399 in today’s market. I suppose a pithy way to say it would be: there are prices that I will not pay and then there are prices that I suspect nobody will pay.
The second house we saw was 9604 Avenel Road, 20903. I keep seeing listings in that immediate area that look nice in the pictures, so I wanted to check out the area. My husband thought that there was no way it could be a decent area, but I think you really have to see for yourself, it seems like things can change from block to block. This house is right off of 650 immediately south of the beltway. For some reason I thought I could continue south on 193 and hit 650, but when we got down to Piney Branch, I realized that it would take me out of the way of the house I wanted to see. My husband pointed out that if we lived here, we could get a tattoo any time we felt like it. Ho ho ho.
The neighborhood of 9604 Avenel was not awful. Many houses are well-kept but the neighborhood is barely hanging on to respectability. The house directly across from 9604 Avenel had an extra car bumper laying in the driveway and another car parked directly on the front lawn. There’s an issue with parking in the neighborhood, most houses don’t have a driveway and people park on both sides of the street.
This house was nicely renovated. Well, I would say that in the sense that overall it had a good effect though my husband pointed out some crappy spots in the flooring and baseboards, it obviously was not a professional job. I really liked the kitchen, in fact I would hold it up as almost my ideal kitchen. It was newly renovated, had a huge refrigerator, and could be closed off to the rest of the house. This “open kitchen” stuff is not for us. My husband says that no “real cook” wants an open kitchen. Who knows, maybe there are some real cooks that enjoy having their whole house smell like blackened salmon, or sautéed onions. But for the way we live there is absolutely no point to an open kitchen. Actually, "real cooks" aside, I think the open kitchen thing is for people with small kids that they want to keep an eye on, or for people who do a lot of informal entertaining. The kitchen was not huge but it was big enough for anything my husband would want to do in there. This is a typical size for the ranch houses we've been looking at lately and was similar to the kitchen I liked last week. I do the cleaning so I don’t need my husband messing up some huge “country kitchen” type of thing.
The upstairs part of the house had everything you’d need, three bedrooms with decent closets, a small room off the kitchen that could be used as a dining room/pantry type of thing, a coat closet and a fireplace. There was oddness about the enclosed porch in the front, which seemed like it would make a better storage area than porch. My husband loved the downstairs. There is a big family room area, tons of storage, a nice bathroom, and three separate rooms that could be used as storage, or a study, or whatever.
The owner is an agent, he bought the house as a foreclosure and fixed it up. We wished him the best of luck. I think that what this guy is doing is adding value and helping clear the market. It’s also helping the neighborhood. The asking price is 319 which probably reflects a reasonable profit from the foreclosure price and renovation costs but nothing too spectacular. I think this house will move fast and someone will really enjoy it.
As we made our way out of the immediate neighborhood, a street was blocked by someone sitting in a car having a conversation with a woman standing in the street. I felt like I was in Philly again.
So, we headed back towards our rented corner of Montgomery County on the beltway, and got off at 97 just to drive around our favorite neighborhood of Forest Glen. We talked about how much we liked that particular area and we think it might be worth it to hold out for that rather than some of these edge-ish neighborhoods. While driving around we went through the EYA renovation of the Forest Glen preserve and saw an open house sign. We stopped in at 9517 Woodstock Court, 20910 and beheld our dream house. This house was moved from, I don’t know, somewhere, and renovated. The original wood moldings and trim is just amazing and the renovation is fantastic. The way the house is situated seems ideal. The style is called "four square" or so I read on the handout. It seems to be an Arts & Crafts style and the details such as light fixtures, reflects that. My husband noted that the quality of the wood in the trim and moldings was such that you probably wouldn't be able to buy it today, you'd have to reclaim it from somewhere. The lower level is all new, with a family room, wine fridge (and kegerator). I particularly loved the way the bathrooms had been done with tile reminiscent of old black and white bathroom tile. That stuff lasts forever. I asked the realtor if this was affiliated with EYA somehow and he said it was not.
As we pulled up, I immediately said “this house must be a million dollars.” My husband guessed 750, I said, seriously at least 850, and my husband then noted that it was an open house and therefore had a good chance of being mispriced, so 750 was likely too low. I should have stuck to my original estimate because this house is listed at over 1 million. As we were driving away my husband started to feel cranky about high real estate prices. I was however not in the mood to be cranky about high prices on this particular day so I didn’t join in although I share his opinion about the outrageousness.
My one criticism is that for a million bucks, I want a shorter street number than 9517. A friend of mine pointed out to me once that shorter street numbers have some ineffably more desirable quality to them. I agree. 9517 is not a great street number.
I think that house will fetch something resembling its asking price and someone will love living there. I don’t think there is room for any kind of appreciation at that price, but hey, not my problem. I reminded my husband that we could have that nice of a house if we wanted to move somewhere other than the DC region. I also said that I’d like to think that one day we could actually buy that house. By the time we buy that house it will likely cost less in real dollars, or we will be getting an even nicer house for our money. We are both hard workers and have no kids, why not?
We went down 547 and saw another sign in the neighborhood that is called “Garrett Park Estates” on the real estate listings. This is in 20895 but it feels like it should be Rockville. The open house was at 5000 Druid drive and the realtor was not particularly interested in engaging with us, which was weird but not unwelcome. This house is listed at 519. Highlight below to read the incredibly rude comment my husband made about this: ”Does it come with a sloppy blowjob?” I said, I think someone should get a blowjob just for viewing that listing, much less buying the house. This is a nicely situated rancher which is rather small. Kitchen is renovated, the rooms are small, and there is only one bathroom upstairs. The lower level is a nicely renovated family room, lots of storage and a full bath. Yawn.
The upshot of today for both of us was that the ice seems to be breaking up a little, but we’re glad we’re not really shopping right now. We are hopeful that things will be better in the spring, but not overly optimistic about that.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Sunday Open Houses
I went to four open houses in the following order today:
11806 Mentone 20906
12725 Hathaway 20906
10108 Brunett20910 20901
1607 Myrtle Road20910 20902
The first one I went to was kind of gross. Actually, it was mostly very nice and airy with hardwood floors and some great picture windows, but the kitchen was just gross. And the family seemed to be hiding out downstairs so I just got out of there. There was a younger couple talking to the realtor that seemed pretty serious about the house. Asking price is an even 300 which of course seems high to me.
As I was driving around I reflected on the difference between genteel shabbiness and plain old shabbiness. If I made a point to observe carefully, I could probably point out what factors make one street seem like aging hippies live there, and another street feel like a pit bull might be running around without a leash. Security doors always make me feel like I'm in a bad neighborhood. Whereas a scraggly, overgrown perennial garden just says "no HOA, hooray." 20906 seems to be mostly the latter variety of shabby, but you feel like it could easily turn into the pit bull kind of shabby. The streets are very rough which makes me think that the township (or however that works in Silver Spring) doesn't have enough money.
The house on Hathaway had some charm, but it was very small. There is a very nice addition on the back and the backyard is very appealing. The kitchen was terrible, a galley kitchen that would need new appliances. If you look it up online you can see that it has original unpainted wood molding. The realtor told me that it was a foreclosure and that they would not fix anything. Asking price is 226. Feh. The house is very close to Wheaton High School.
I headed down to 20910 and stopped by Brunett Ave. This house was very nice. The kitchen was renovated, with those tall kind of cabinets which are of no use to me because I'm short. Oddly, the appliances were old, but if I were interested in that house I probably wouldn't let that stop me. I just wonder why they didn't spring for new appliances. Typical rambler, three small bedrooms. The finished basement is pretty decent. The second bathroom is in the basement, which I always think is pretty sucky. I kind of feel that houses with a bathroom in the basement shouldn't get to claim an extra bath. There is a pretty nice deck. The yard is almost nonexistent, but some people might like that.
The realtor at that house was actually pretty cool. As we were talking we got on the subject of distressed sales (of course) and he said that he is getting the sense that the banks are starting to relent and actually get moving on short sales. He felt that the banks' attitude was to "punish" the delinquent homeowners and his take on it was that they may be coming around to realizing that they're not getting anywhere by sending that particular message. I guess the tide is just so large that there really isn't a viable strategy for banks to try to make a short sale an unattractive option for homeowners.
I stopped by the house on Myrtle simply because I was on my way back to my neighborhood (Rockville) and I saw the sign. This house had a lot of charm but of the 577 asking price just feels like a big old F you to me. I don't know if that's even normal for the neighborhood or what, it just offends me somehow. Even by today's screwed up standards, this pleasant house does not live up to what I feel the .5 million dollar range represents. But a lot of open houses seem to be like that, they often seem to be some of the most mispriced even for a bubble. The basement on Myrtle has a small kitchen and some bedrooms so it's a functional basement apartment (though I imagine not legally) The house had a good feel to it and I like the neighborhood.
I drove back towards Rockville on Forest Glen, winding through the Capitol View Park neighborhood, which definitely has the genteel type of shabbiness going on. When I got to Plyers Mill close to Connecticut, I turned right just to take a turn through that neighborhood, which seems pretty nice to me, probably totally out of the question in terms of affordability. I turned around, got on Knowles, and almost stopped at another open house just off 547. As I pulled up, I realized that the house suffered from being probably the most expensive one in the neighborhood as it was overwhelmingly huge, dwarfing the neighboring houses. Plus it was 10 of four by that time so I didn't bother.
I'm hoping prices start to get better by spring, which is when we plan to start seriously looking. I think it would be more ideal to wait until around 2012 but for various reasons that is becoming impractical for us. We are socking away a lot of cash and technically, even by traditional standards could qualify for the 577K house. But it just feels all wrong to me. I want to have low fixed costs and I'm not looking to live in a showplace (which to me, a 500K house should be) I never got anchored psychologically to bubble prices. Right now I see that there are places that are decent that are in a semi-reasonable place in terms of price, but they are in "eh" neighborhoods. How will these places be affected when all of the shadow inventory comes out of the woodwork? I can handle that we might overpay somewhat if we buy in 2010, but I don't want to be stuck in a neighborhood that I no longer like. And the amount I can handle overpaying would be in the lower tens of thousands, not another 100K. Which still seems possible at this point in spite of the good economy here in the DC region.
11806 Mentone 20906
12725 Hathaway 20906
10108 Brunett
1607 Myrtle Road
The first one I went to was kind of gross. Actually, it was mostly very nice and airy with hardwood floors and some great picture windows, but the kitchen was just gross. And the family seemed to be hiding out downstairs so I just got out of there. There was a younger couple talking to the realtor that seemed pretty serious about the house. Asking price is an even 300 which of course seems high to me.
As I was driving around I reflected on the difference between genteel shabbiness and plain old shabbiness. If I made a point to observe carefully, I could probably point out what factors make one street seem like aging hippies live there, and another street feel like a pit bull might be running around without a leash. Security doors always make me feel like I'm in a bad neighborhood. Whereas a scraggly, overgrown perennial garden just says "no HOA, hooray." 20906 seems to be mostly the latter variety of shabby, but you feel like it could easily turn into the pit bull kind of shabby. The streets are very rough which makes me think that the township (or however that works in Silver Spring) doesn't have enough money.
The house on Hathaway had some charm, but it was very small. There is a very nice addition on the back and the backyard is very appealing. The kitchen was terrible, a galley kitchen that would need new appliances. If you look it up online you can see that it has original unpainted wood molding. The realtor told me that it was a foreclosure and that they would not fix anything. Asking price is 226. Feh. The house is very close to Wheaton High School.
I headed down to 20910 and stopped by Brunett Ave. This house was very nice. The kitchen was renovated, with those tall kind of cabinets which are of no use to me because I'm short. Oddly, the appliances were old, but if I were interested in that house I probably wouldn't let that stop me. I just wonder why they didn't spring for new appliances. Typical rambler, three small bedrooms. The finished basement is pretty decent. The second bathroom is in the basement, which I always think is pretty sucky. I kind of feel that houses with a bathroom in the basement shouldn't get to claim an extra bath. There is a pretty nice deck. The yard is almost nonexistent, but some people might like that.
The realtor at that house was actually pretty cool. As we were talking we got on the subject of distressed sales (of course) and he said that he is getting the sense that the banks are starting to relent and actually get moving on short sales. He felt that the banks' attitude was to "punish" the delinquent homeowners and his take on it was that they may be coming around to realizing that they're not getting anywhere by sending that particular message. I guess the tide is just so large that there really isn't a viable strategy for banks to try to make a short sale an unattractive option for homeowners.
I stopped by the house on Myrtle simply because I was on my way back to my neighborhood (Rockville) and I saw the sign. This house had a lot of charm but of the 577 asking price just feels like a big old F you to me. I don't know if that's even normal for the neighborhood or what, it just offends me somehow. Even by today's screwed up standards, this pleasant house does not live up to what I feel the .5 million dollar range represents. But a lot of open houses seem to be like that, they often seem to be some of the most mispriced even for a bubble. The basement on Myrtle has a small kitchen and some bedrooms so it's a functional basement apartment (though I imagine not legally) The house had a good feel to it and I like the neighborhood.
I drove back towards Rockville on Forest Glen, winding through the Capitol View Park neighborhood, which definitely has the genteel type of shabbiness going on. When I got to Plyers Mill close to Connecticut, I turned right just to take a turn through that neighborhood, which seems pretty nice to me, probably totally out of the question in terms of affordability. I turned around, got on Knowles, and almost stopped at another open house just off 547. As I pulled up, I realized that the house suffered from being probably the most expensive one in the neighborhood as it was overwhelmingly huge, dwarfing the neighboring houses. Plus it was 10 of four by that time so I didn't bother.
I'm hoping prices start to get better by spring, which is when we plan to start seriously looking. I think it would be more ideal to wait until around 2012 but for various reasons that is becoming impractical for us. We are socking away a lot of cash and technically, even by traditional standards could qualify for the 577K house. But it just feels all wrong to me. I want to have low fixed costs and I'm not looking to live in a showplace (which to me, a 500K house should be) I never got anchored psychologically to bubble prices. Right now I see that there are places that are decent that are in a semi-reasonable place in terms of price, but they are in "eh" neighborhoods. How will these places be affected when all of the shadow inventory comes out of the woodwork? I can handle that we might overpay somewhat if we buy in 2010, but I don't want to be stuck in a neighborhood that I no longer like. And the amount I can handle overpaying would be in the lower tens of thousands, not another 100K. Which still seems possible at this point in spite of the good economy here in the DC region.
Friday, July 17, 2009
July 17, 2009
Some open houses this weekend in and around 20910.
http://www.zillow.com/homes/map/20910_rb/
http://www.zillow.com/homes/map/20910_rb/
Thursday, July 16, 2009
What's the deal with Kensington?
Kensington is sort of difficult to characterize. On one hand, there are some very pricey neighborhoods that seem like an extension of Chevy Chase. Then there are some other neighborhoods that seem like an extension of rural West Virginia. If you've gone looking in the area, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. I wonder how the town is run. There are the brave little rows of antique shops, and then there is the Mormon Temple. I don't know the whole story but I'm pretty sure no other jurisdiction wanted to let the LDS build such a monstrosity. The thing is officially within the bounds of Kensington. Not sure I would want to live directly in its shadow.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
8309 Piney Branch RD, 20910
MC7063366
I went to see this a while ago, in the early spring. I think I just wanted to find out what the hell the green triangular thing was. It was a sad story, it looked like the family that had been living there left in a big hurry. A child's textbook was in one of the bedrooms, along with lots of other detritus, and the whole place stank of rotting food and cat piss.
The triangular thing is a separate entrance to a tiny downstairs apartment, where I believe some stray cats are living now. The windows on the green thing are some kind of plexiglass material.
The main part of the house is typical "mid-century" one-level. The front room has a large, ugly fireplace. There is a room off to the side that looks like an enclosed porch, that is painted bright peach. The general effect from just the front rooms is that it might not be too bad if it were cleaned up and renovated.
The house has one major issue that trumps all of the ones already mentioned here: there is no driveway and nowhere to park. The house is perched on a hill with a steep walkway up to the front door. Adjacent houses have driveways but this house does not. You must park your car around the block, walk around and then up the steep front steps. There is no access from the back. I can't imagine who would buy this house, as I think that issue makes it almost unlivable in today's society.
I went to see this a while ago, in the early spring. I think I just wanted to find out what the hell the green triangular thing was. It was a sad story, it looked like the family that had been living there left in a big hurry. A child's textbook was in one of the bedrooms, along with lots of other detritus, and the whole place stank of rotting food and cat piss.
The triangular thing is a separate entrance to a tiny downstairs apartment, where I believe some stray cats are living now. The windows on the green thing are some kind of plexiglass material.
The main part of the house is typical "mid-century" one-level. The front room has a large, ugly fireplace. There is a room off to the side that looks like an enclosed porch, that is painted bright peach. The general effect from just the front rooms is that it might not be too bad if it were cleaned up and renovated.
The house has one major issue that trumps all of the ones already mentioned here: there is no driveway and nowhere to park. The house is perched on a hill with a steep walkway up to the front door. Adjacent houses have driveways but this house does not. You must park your car around the block, walk around and then up the steep front steps. There is no access from the back. I can't imagine who would buy this house, as I think that issue makes it almost unlivable in today's society.
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